Thinking about feedback in translation terms Agnes Whitfield, Department of English, LA&PS This text follows up on some of the thoughtful suggestions made in the sCoop Blog 28 “Giving feedback that encourages a growth mindset.” My change in thinking about feedback started in the late 1990s. I began to see that students had increasing difficulty in understanding […]
Complexity Thinking in Education: Leveraging Difference for Learning Gail Mitchell, Faculty of Health Ten years ago I realized that I could not teach one more course where students were disengaged and uninspired. The notion that there is a right and wrong approach to learning and that some authority will ensure success has been deeply engrained […]
Dealing with the distraction of students’ personal devices Susan Murtha, Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Health There have been a number of online news articles expressing the issues and concerns (from both the prof and the students perspective) around students bringing their computers in the classroom from the Globe and Mail, The Guardian, […]
Prologue In this 5 part series, Mandy Frake Mistak from the Teaching Commons provides an insight into her experience running and Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) at the University of Lincoln in the UK. In November 2015 I, along with my colleagues Dr. Celia Popovic who as you know is the Director of the Teaching Commons here at […]
Dealing with the distraction of students’ personal devices Susan Murtha, Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Health The articles are an interesting read and provide some useful suggestions. In sum, banning laptops is only a short-term solution to the inattention/distraction problem in lecture halls. In fact, one has to be careful about establishing a […]
The Life of a Contract Faculty Member Nearing the First Day of School Natasha May, Teaching Commons and Department of Mathematics and Statistics As I reflect back, the end of August is always a time of excitement and trepidation. As a contract faculty member, this is the time I wait to see if I get […]
Why teachers are not a thing of the past in the digital classroom By Dimitra Giannouplaki – York undergraduate student 2016 – international exchange Apps, social media, e-platforms offer to the contemporary students opportunities that decades ago no one could even think of. But, do we still need teachers in the classroom, will we need […]
It’s time for STAY! Natasha May, Teaching Commons This is my favourite time of year (for the past 4 years anyway). It is time for STAY! That is, the Supporting Teaching At York (STAY) Symposium. I can’t believe it was over 4 years ago when a group of experienced graduate student TAs came together to […]
On teaching academic writing – Part 2 Stephanie Bell, Associate Director of the Writing Centre and Assistant Professor in the Writing Department I am often told that there is no time to teach both course content and writing. Additional time would certainly ease this situation. In its absence, though, writing assignments do make writing part […]
Giving feedback that encourages a growth mindset The Teaching Commons authors a series of featurettes, known as “The sCoop,” in order to address your concerns and provide helpful tips toward being an innovative and inspiring educator. This week’s blog showcases one of our sCoop sheets on how to encourage a growth mindset in the classroom. […]